Colorado Rep. Jared Wright agreed to be more careful” in the future and not carry the gun inside the building.

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Colorado Rep. Jared Wright left a loaded handgun in the Colorado Capitol building earlier this month, The Denver Post reported. It's not the first time a lawmaker has run into trouble for carrying a concealed weapon.

Updated at 4:12 PM EDT on Thursday, Feb 20, 2014

A Colorado state lawmaker left a loaded handgun in the state Capitol building earlier this month, The Denver Post reported.

Colorado Rep. Jared Wright, a Republican legislator, left the gun in a black canvas bag under a committee room table. Rep. Jonathan Singer, who sits next to Wright on the House Local Government committee, discovered the gun as he was clearing out the committee room after a Feb. 6 debate on concealed handgun permits.

“I just immediately notified the Sergeant at Arms and soon we realized it was Jared’s bag,” Singer told The Post Wednesday.

Wright, a former policeman and current “peace officer,” told the paper he often carries a gun on the chamber floor.

“I feel it’s my duty to be a first responder wherever I am at,” said Wright. “That’s why I carry it.”

But Colorado state law prohibits carrying a firearm in the Capitol “without legal authority.”

Wright agreed to stop carrying a gun inside the building after speaking with the Colorado State Patrol about the incident. He also received a call from Gov. John Hickenlooper’s office.

This isn’t the first time a politician has gotten into trouble for toting a firearm.

In 2012, California Assemblyman Tim Donnelly was cited after police discovered a loaded .45-caliber handgun in his carry-on briefcase at the Ontario International Airport. Donnelly, who said the incident was an accident, was later placed on probation for three years as part of a plea agreement.

But in other statehouses, carrying firearms to work is more commonplace. In Texas, dozens of lawmakers have concealed-carry permits and regularly bring their firearms into work. They can even use their permits as an E-ZPass of sorts to skip a security area with metal detectors and scanners.